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FC Dallas, Houston coaches have long history

FRISCO, Texas – There’s certainly no love lost between FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo on the field. But ahead of Saturday’s showdown between the Texas rivals (6:30 pm CT, ESPN2), one thing you won’t see is an Alex Ferguson-Roberto Mancini style bust-up between coaches. Schellas Hyndman and Dominic Kinnear go way back.

“A lot of people don’t know, but I recruited him when he came out of high school,” former SMU coach Hyndman said of Houston’s longtime coach. “We tell the stories back and forth. I’ve always liked him as a player, on the national team, as an assistant coach with San Jose and I’m glad to see how well he’s doing as a head coach.”

While Hyndman first took on Houston as Dallas boss in June 2008, Kinnear has been at the helm for the Dynamo in each of the 18 regular-season meetings, suffering just three losses and only one in Houston. Recently, however, Hyndman and Dallas have evened up the series a bit, losing just one of the past five Texas Derbies, though a game against a Kinnear-coached team is never easy.

“He really has identified the way he wants to play and he works awfully hard in getting those players that fit into what he wants,” said Hyndman. “He looks for certain type of players that fit into his style of play and he brings the best out of them.”

Daniel Hernandez is one of the few players remaining in the league to have faced Kinnear both as a player and a manager.

“I know him very well, and he’s just a great coach,” said the MLS veteran. “Very well-coached team, disciplined team and always a tough game even when things aren’t going their way.”